Chapter 10

The Genius Knight Who Devours Memories

Chapter 10

‘No way!’

Creed, who had been watching Rohan from afar, sucked in a sharp breath.

He had been secretly following him under orders to keep an eye on Rohan.

‘He awakened mana?’

A child who had not even been enlisted for a week had awakened mana. On his own, no less.

Creed rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the wavering blue light remained unchanged.

‘Impossible.’

Creed could hardly believe reality after witnessing something so absurd.

Ordinarily, awakening mana required a considerable level of swordsmanship,

and if one failed to form a mana heart, they might go their entire life without ever sensing mana.

There were countless people like that.

‘How long has he even been holding a sword, and he’s already a Sword Expert...’

Creed was currently a mid-to-high-level Sword Expert.

The distinction between a Sword User and a Sword Expert was whether or not one could use mana.

The point at which mana could be converted into aura marked the Master level.

Rohan had just reached, by himself, at least the lower level of Sword Expert.

But the shock did not end there.

- Crack!

Rohan lightly raised his sword toward the tree.

Yet two sword marks appeared on the trunk.

Creed’s mouth hung open at the sight.

‘That’s Rainer’s technique.’

The swordsmanship Rohan had used on the tree was unmistakably Rainer’s.

Swift Sword. A sword technique so fast that others’ eyes could not follow the wielder’s movements.

To others, it looked as though the swordsman merely raised his sword slowly or thrust once,

but in reality, the technique struck two or three times at tremendous speed.

‘No one in the unit was ever able to imitate it.’

Just how was that child practicing Rainer’s technique?

Only a few days ago, he had been using swordsmanship that amounted to nothing more than imitation.

He seemed to have grown after being advised to find his own path, but what he was doing now was something entirely different.

Something had happened that vastly exceeded his level.

Shwaaaaa-.

The pouring rain blurred Creed’s vision.

Squinting and looking closely, he saw a smile on Rohan’s lips.

Then Rohan subtly turned his head.

“Gasp.”

Creed held his breath and hid behind the tent.

‘Did our eyes meet?’

That was impossible.

The distance between Rohan and Creed was around a hundred paces.

It was far enough that even someone with keen senses would normally fail to notice him, and with the rain falling, traces would be even harder to detect.

Splash. Splash.

But footsteps sounded from far away.

There was no one on the training ground besides Rohan and Creed.

‘It must be a coincidence. It has to be.’

That was what he thought, but unfortunately, the footsteps grew steadily louder.

In the end, Creed turned around and stepped out in front of the tent.

About thirty paces away, he could see Rohan approaching.

His steps were clearly headed directly toward Creed.

“Squad Leader.”

Rohan called to Creed with a calm expression, as though it were only natural.

Creed asked with an incomprehensible look.

“You knew I was here?”

Rohan looked at him as though wondering why he would ask something so obvious.

“You’ve been following me since I left for the training ground.”

“How in the world did you know?”

“Wolves are more sensitive to gazes aimed at themselves than they are to their prey.”

Wolves...?

Creed was momentarily speechless at the unexpected answer.

Then it felt as though lightning struck his mind.

When they had crossed swords before, there had been moments when Rohan seemed like a wild beast.

Could this be connected to that?

Pretending not to understand, Creed asked again.

“What does that mean?”

“I’ve hunted a lot.”

But Rohan only gave a vague answer.

Creed’s doubts remained.

When following Rohan, he had maintained a distance of more than a hundred paces.

It was a distance difficult to notice even for someone with exceptionally keen senses.

This was an entirely different matter from Rohan awakening mana and practicing a technique.

Creed had many questions and was just about to open his mouth when Rohan cut him off.

“Squad Leader.”

“What.”

“I think it’s time to use my command authority over the squad.”

The questions in Creed’s mind vanished somewhere into the distance.

Command authority over the squad.

What that meant was painfully obvious.

___________

Strikingly dark skin and a pure white robe.

Meiwa, First Platoon Leader of Eighth Company, sat in front of his tent polishing his sword.

Across the entire unit, Meiwa was the only man with dark skin and a shaved head.

His body was thin and elongated, almost like that of a slender woman.

“Platoon Leader, what are you doing?”

“Can’t you see?”

A soldier approached and sat beside him.

He looked at Meiwa’s sword with fascination.

Meiwa’s sword was curved like a crescent moon in the shape of a hook.

Likewise, Meiwa was the only person in the entire unit who used such a sword.

“This really is fascinating no matter how many times I see it.”

“Shouldn’t you be used to it by now?”

Swoosh- He swung the sword horizontally.

Because the weapon had short reach, it looked more like hand-to-hand combat than swordsmanship.

Though short-ranged, the blade curved around his fist, making it extremely agile and sharp.

The soldier rounded his lips in amazement.

“The Nakandiya Tribe’s swordsmanship imitates leopards, right? You really look like a beast.”

“Leopards are only part of it. It incorporates many techniques from nature.”

The Nakandiya Tribe.

A tribe settled deep within remote mountains where few people in the Empire ever traveled.

They were renowned for their exceptional swordsmanship and agile physiques.

In particular, their swordsmanship, modeled after nature, could be called a national treasure without exaggeration.

The Imperial Knights themselves had once visited and asked to learn from them, only to be flatly refused.

Although their territory lay within the Empire, they claimed to belong to no nation, and the Empire made no particular effort to interfere with them.

It was obvious that they absolutely forbade worship of anything other than the god they served.

No one knew why a man like Meiwa was here.

“Is today some special day? You’re even polishing your sword so carefully.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being prepared.”

“That’s true.”

After answering, Meiwa returned the sword to his waist.

Because the sword could not fit inside a rigid sheath, it was instead wrapped in leather secured by buckles.

Meiwa waved at the soldier as though shooing away an annoying fly.

“Go inside and sleep.”

It was already past midnight.

Rain had been falling over the camp all day.

“What about you, Platoon Leader?”

“Today is the day I offer prayers to the god Nakumana.”

“As expected, the Nakandiya Tribe really is sacred and mysterious.”

Meiwa did not particularly respond.

Once he confirmed that the soldier was gone, his expression immediately hardened.

‘Prayers to the god, my ass.’

There was no better excuse when he wanted to get rid of nuisances or make something up.

Almost nothing was known about the Nakandiya Tribe, so people tended to believe most things he said.

‘Sacred and mysterious tribe... what a load of fucking bullshit.’

His goal was the destruction of the Nakandiya Tribe.

His entire family had been accused of being Noxis spies and massacred.

And they had been beaten to death with stones by residents of the Nakandiya Tribe.

Remembering it, Meiwa’s face twisted sharply.

Deep wrinkles formed across his hairless forehead.

‘I’ll show them what a real Noxis spy looks like.’

That was why he had volunteered to become a Noxis spy as part of a deal.

If this mission went well and the White Wolf Knights were destroyed, he had been promised that the next target of attack would be Nakandiya.

The upcoming secret gathering was extremely important to him.

‘Nothing should happen.’

He stroked the sword at his waist.

It was a sword he had never once brought to one of these gatherings.

Because the weapon alone made it easy to identify him.

But today, he felt he should bring it.

‘Let’s hope nothing happens.’

When he first heard of Rainer’s death, he had considered skipping the gathering.

But after it was revealed to be the work of a Noxis assassin, he changed his mind.

‘Was his name Rohan?’

Yet he could not understand why that boy kept bothering him.

_____________

Two bells rang through the silent camp.

It was two in the morning.

Rain was still pouring over the barracks.

The soldiers assigned to guard duty stood watch with even greater vigilance than usual.

Because ominous rumors about assassins had spread throughout the entire unit.

Splash. Splash.

Footsteps broke through the silence.

It was Meiwa.

As an officer, he openly passed by the soldiers and appeared at the meeting place.

‘Quiet.’

The place where he stopped was in front of the door to the underground storage room used for supplies.

It was a place people rarely visited to begin with, and during the early morning when no supplies arrived, there were even fewer people around.

Standing in front of the door, he looked around before reaching into his clothes and pulling on a pure white mask.

A small Ⅱ was written on his mask.

So far, there were no signs of danger.

Creak- The underground door opened with an old groan.

Meiwa descended the stairs step by step.

Inside were a desk and chairs, and two people were already seated.

“You should’ve lit a few more lamps.”

The interior was strangely dark.

Looking closer, all but one of the torches illuminating the room had been extinguished.

When Meiwa tried to strike a match, one of the masked figures spoke.

“Why not just spread a rumor that we’re having a secret meeting in the basement while you’re at it?”

A distorted voice echoed through the basement.

The masks were artifacts that altered the wearer’s voice.

A small symbol Ⅰ was written on the mask of the one who had spoken.

Number One.

That meant the strongest person here.

Meiwa, Number Two, put the match back into his clothes and sat opposite Number One.

“Number One. You look smaller than usual today. Or maybe not. Hard to tell when I can barely see anything.”

Meiwa narrowed his eyes and looked around.

Number One’s body seemed smaller.

But the room was dark, and Number One had already been seated, so he was not sure whether he was seeing correctly.

He could feel Number One staring directly at him.

‘Meiwa. Calm down.’

Meiwa swallowed.

His unease was at its peak today, making him overly sensitive to everything.

There was nothing to gain from unnecessarily getting on Number One’s bad side.

“Well. I’m just saying. Nice atmosphere.”

He forced his voice to sound bright.

Number One simply stared at Meiwa.

It was a silent gesture, yet it seemed to carry the majesty of a predator hunting prey caught in a trap.

In the end, Meiwa looked away.

Creak. Creak.

Time passed without much conversation, and more masked figures descended as the door opened.

They wore the masks of Numbers Three and Four.

Each took a seat.

They sat in a circle around a wide round table.

‘I’m glad I came early.’

Sitting next to Number One was an uncomfortable prospect.

Number Three sat beside Number One, followed in order by Number Four, Meiwa, and Number Five around the circle.

That placed Numbers Five and Three on either side of Number One.

“Everyone’s here.”

Number One spoke.

There were five spies in total, so that was correct.

But at that moment, Meiwa felt an intense sense of wrongness.

Meiwa abruptly stood and said.

“Wait. Why are there five people? Wasn’t Number Five killed?”

Hans, in other words, Number Five, should definitely have been dead.

Only now did Meiwa notice that the mask beside Number One had a Ⅴ written on it.

It had been too dark to see properly, but after using mana to improve his vision, it became unmistakably clear.

“Was Hans not a spy?”

The masked figures became confused.

Because none of them knew one another’s identities, they had merely assumed Hans was the spy.

Poison had definitely been found in his possession, and that had been the operation Number Five had agreed to carry out during their previous secret meeting.

“Hey, Number Five! Say something! Weren’t you Hans? Then what was the poison found on Hans’s body? Why didn’t you carry out the operation?”

Meiwa shouted rapidly.

Number Five seemed flustered, then looked toward Number One.

As though asking what to do.

“Hmm.”

Number One let out a low hum and stood.

The masked figures showed signs of alarm.

“What the hell, Number One really did get smaller!”

Meiwa shouted.

Number One’s build had originally been far larger than this.

Now, Number One’s height looked like that of a child who had not yet reached adulthood.

Without a word, Number One picked up the sword placed beside him.

When Number One suddenly took up the sword, Number Three, seated beside him, stood in confusion.

“W-what are you doing...”

Before Number Three could even react, Number One raised the sword.

That was how it appeared to them.

Slash-! But Number Three’s head had already been separated from his body.